Jacob Lang Leads Men’s Golf on Day One at Watersound Invitational
PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. – Back in action for the first time since October, Kentucky men’s golf put together a 292 (+4) opening round on day one of the Watersound Invitational, placing the Cats in eighth as a team at Shark’s Tooth Golf Course (par 72, 7246 yards).
UK, which started its day on Shark’s Tooth’s back nine, dealt with some blemishes early in the round but rallied over the final nine holes to turn in a quality showing in a field that features six top 25 teams. On hole Nos. 1-9 – the team’s final nine holes of the day – the Wildcats were a combined 3-under par, making nine birdies and an eagle.
Freshman Jacob Lang was the low man on the day for UK, carding four birdies and a 2-under round of 70 in the first loop of the spring season. Lang’s efforts were good for a tie for sixth individually and marked the third round of par-or-better for the native of Alvaton, Kentucky and the second lowest score of his young collegiate career. Lang was even-par on his first nine holes but closed with a fervor with three consecutive birdies on hole Nos. 6, 7 and 8. He sits three shots back of the individual leaders, Gray Albright and Michael Mays of Florida State, through round one.
Oakley Gee, slotted as an individual this week, made the most of his opportunity with his best round of the 2024-25 season at 1-under par. Gee’s 71 featured a team-best six birdies, tied for the third most of any player in the field on day one. The redshirt sophomore is tied for 13th through Monday’s action.
Jack Schoenberger, Kentucky’s scoring average leader from the fall season, closed with two birdies over his final four holes to get back to even-par for the day and put himself in a tie for 18th.
Senior captain Jansen Preston is T37 after today’s play at 2-over par, having made two birdies in round one, both coming on par-5s.
Freshman Jacob Settles was the fourth counting score in the lineup with a 4-over round of 76 that featured an eagle on No. 6 (par 5, 526 yards), one of three eagles made by the 77-player field on the day.
Michael Hake rebounded from a difficult opening nine with a 1-under 35 on his homeward half to card 81.
Host Florida State is the day one team leader at 10-under par as a team.
The tournament will continue with round two tomorrow. Fans can follow the action on Golfstat.com.
Leaderboard
T6: Jacob Lang (70)
T13: Oakley Gee* (71)
T18: Jack Schoenberger (72)
T37: Jansen Preston (74)
T54: Jacob Settles (76)
T70: Michael Hake (81)
Bold = Counting score
*Individual
For the latest on UK Men’s Golf follow the Wildcats on and Instagram @UKmensgolf, and online at ukathletics.com.
